The 41st Expedition Beyond the Walls
by ChucKelise
Summary: While on an expedition outside the walls, the Survey Corps is attacked and overwhelmed by a large group of titans.
1. Chapter 1

**AN-**

**So I'm obviously not an expert at all with the way that Attack on Titan works and what happens and whatnot, but I did my best to figure things out for this. If I got some fact horribly wrong and it's bothering you feel free to pm me and let me know.**

**And I'm frankly not 100% sure what the 41st expedition beyond the walls was like because it doesn't really exist. I mostly chose that number because it fit in with the timeline of the story of Attack on Titan...**

**Also as I was writing this I envisioned the winter gear of the Scouting Legion to be like the winter gear that Ymir and Krista are wearing in chapter 40 of the manga. It's also the same as what the wings of counterattack winter gear looks like: **** /post/levi-shingeki-no-kyojin-attack-on-titan-rivaille/74835436841**

**They would have the long coats and light gloves (so they could still use the 3DMG) but still have the 3DMG on their sides.**

_It's winter of the year 849. Tensions, as always, are high between the Scouting Legion and the Military Police. They are especially high right now because the Scouting Legion decided to forgo their normal winter expedition beyond the walls because of the high dangers and casualty risks. The Military Police are angered by this because they don't want to have to pay taxes for he Scouting Legion if they aren't doing anything to try and better the current situation of humanity._

_And so in this predicament the Military Police go behind the backs of the Scouting Legion and request that the king and central government either cut some funding out of taxes that go towards the Scouts, or order them to proceed with the winter expedition. They receive orders back saying that to avoid a larger conflict the Scouts are to proceed with the winter expedition immediately. This news, once it reached Commander Erwin, had him and the entire regiment in distress. _

_Forced to make hurried plans, Erwin decides to take a small formation of elite soldiers out beyond the walls to "attempt to observe the titans in hopes of learning more about them." What he planned to do was depart from Wall Rose, ride until they reached an abandoned village and camp out there for one or two days and if possible avoid even seeing a titan. Things however, go horribly wrong..._

If Levi didn't die of cold from the frigid air surrounding him, then he would die from having his ears implode (which would be quite messy) due to having listened to Hanji's mindless prattle for far too long. He didn't know which would be worse. They had just barely left Wall Rose behind them. This was going to be a long cold day.

The Scouting Legion had departed from Wall Rose and had begun riding east across frozen territory that morning. If this was a typical expedition then the majority of the Scouts would've looked a little more cheery. Even Levi was usually slightly excited whenever he was freed from the confines of a wall. Simply the look of a horizon with no boundaries made him feel alive. But not today.

Currently Levi was a little pissed. To begin with he couldn't actually believe that Erwin had made them go on the winter expedition after having assured everyone that they wouldn't. Winter was an especially dangerous time to be outside the walls and they never came back from winter expeditions with even half of the soldiers that they set out with. There were many reasons to attribute this to but it was mostly due to the cold causing the 3DMG to malfunction and jam and the fact that large groups of humans out in the cold drew titans in like moths to the flame. On top of that, Levi knew for a fact that not much planning had gone into this expedition because there simply hadn't been time.

So to say that they were practically marching to their deaths wasn't too far off from the truth. But that was thinking negatively, now wasn't it. Dealing with the Military Police will do that to you.

"...And that was when-"

"Is it even possible for you to shut up?" Levi said butting into the middle of Hanji's story. His voice was slightly muffled by the thick scarf he had wrapped around his nose and mouth.

"Talking keeps my face warm!" she cheerily clambered."You could try being talkative for once."

"I'm plenty talkative." he retorted.

"You say that a lot, but it has yet to be seen."

"I'm talking right now aren't I?"

"Yes, but the only reason you spoke up is so that you could tell me to shut it. Anyways, where was I? Oh yes! So when I compared the two branches of the tomato bush I discovered that they were indeed being affected differently..."

As they continued riding Levi tuned out Hanji (was she seriously talking about tomatoes?) and thought back over what Erwin had managed to explain that morning before they were practically shoved out of the gate by the 'oh so friendly' MP. Erwin had said that they would be riding east until they reached an abandoned town near Wall Maria and then they'd camp out there for a day or two and head back. He had also said that they would be using a variation on the usual formation strategy that they used when scouting. Instead of having a single soldier stationed every few meters apart they would have groups of two or three soldiers stationed in the place of one in a formation that totaled to fifty soldiers. Levi's own squad was spread out along the right side of the formation whereas Levi himself had the "privilege" (more like torture) of being stationed at the front of the formation with Hanji and Mike. He figured that if any titans were to show their ugly faces and they weren't able to change course Erwin wanted them three to take the beasts out quickly and efficiently, even though he didn't actually want any of the scouts engaging any titans in a fight. "The less we see the better." he'd said.

The possibility of the formation not attracting any titans was slim, but Levi was fine with them leaving the titans alone. He only wished that the same would happen the other way around.

...

They rode for hours, and then a few more hours. It was long enough that a mountain range that had been in the distance was now only a few miles away and they could make out a large snow-covered evergreen forest at its base. It was also long enough of a ride that Hanji had finally shut her trap, for which Levi was grateful. There wasn't a lot to look at in the frozen landscape, just hills, some lifeless trees and the occasional broken down house, but with Hanji unnecessarily narrating every detail of what they were passing it was almost hell. Almost.

There wasn't much to do either. The only thing that broke up the endless riding was the occasional time that they had changed their course when they saw green and red flares. For the most part it was a very quiet ride. Unusually quiet. He couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing.

The sun, which had been busily shinning all day, was gradually lowering now that noon had come and gone. Although it had been a remarkably bright day, the sun had seemed to give off no heat. The temperatures were extremely low and Levi wondered if his hands (which BARELY had any feeling left in them at this point) would get frostbite.

As they were drawing closer to the evergreens at the base of the mountain they saw a flare go off behind them, but strangely it was signaling for them to hold their position.

"We're stopping?" Mike asked in surprise.

"Maybe the commander realized that this was stupid a** idea and we're heading back." Levi said sarcastically as he stopped his horse.

Mike shot Levi a look, "Even if that's the case he needs to tell us soon. If we're standing here for too long we'll attract titans."

"That might not necessarily be a bad thing." Hanji chimed in, "I'm kind of in the mood to kill a couple of the monsters."

"Because you're crazy." Levi said, although he slightly agreed with her."I have an idea. Let's leave four eyes here to play with titans and we'll go see why the Commander stopped us."

"No need," Mike replied rolling his eyes. "Here comes a rider now."

Sure enough there was indeed someone riding up to them. When they caught up they said simply: "The Commander wants all troops to the supply wagons in the center of the formation now!" and then turned to go tell the next group in the formation.

They watched the horse ride into the distance for a moment.

"Let's go." Levi announced.

Levi could see as he rode up to the supply wagons that Erwin was consulting with other higher ranking officers. He had a very serious complexion on his face. It was the kind of face that he made when something bad was about to happen or when something bad was already happening.

Levi, Hanji and Mike didn't stop their horses until they were next to them.

"What's going on Commander?" Mike asked addressing Erwin.

The commander hesitated for a moment and looked around before answering. "We're still missing about a dozen people. We were going to wait for everyone to get back but we might not have the time." He folded his arms and sighed deeply. "We have a problem. There have been almost no titans spotted during this entire journey which is highly unusual. We've predicted that this is either because they have just happened to be somewhere else, which is unlikely, or because they have been waiting for something."

An uneasy silence spread among the group.

"Waiting for what?" someone hesitantly asked.

"For us I would think." the Commander responded grimly. "This is why, once everyone gets here, I want us all to head for the tree line immediat-"

"TITANS!"

The scream tore through the ranks quicker than wildfire and with it came an overpowering fear.

Immediately Levi's instincts kicked in and he scanned the surrounding landscape for the cause of the alarm. A feeling of panic set on him when he spotted them.

Normally when the Scouts were outside the walls, a group of seven to nine titans showing up would be plenty for them to deal with. If there were any more than that then they usually turned tails and ran away as fast as possible. That was the reason why the entire Scouting Legion was screaming in chaos right now.

There was a hoard of titans running directly at them. No less than thirty. Out running them wouldn't be an option. They were already too close. Already there were some faster ones alarmingly close to their position. They needed protection and they needed it fast.

end ch 1

**AN-**

**Yeah, so...there's a bit of a cliffy there...**

**I have the next little bit already written and I plan to upload it next week (but I might be persuaded to upload it sooner if i get enough people wanting it :)**

**Cheers!**

**-ChucK**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is! I finally posted chapter 2!**

**Enjoy!**

"Levi, Hanji, Mike! Take up the rear!" Erwin commanded over the chaos. "I want you three guarding the back of the group. Kill any of them that get too close! I'm going to lead everyone to the tree line. Go! And watch out for each other!"

As they turned to go the Commander quickly shouted to get the attention of the rest of the panicked soldiers. It was clear that he was processing and overwhelming amount of information and making quick decisions based on it.

"EVERYONE LISTEN! We don't have time for your fear! The only way we will make it away from the titans is if we all make a run for the forest. GO NOW!" And with that he fired a green flare pointed at the line of trees.

Levi had never see a group of people respond faster than the Scouts did then. Some of them started running away before Erwin was even done speaking. Their terrified faces spoke volumes about how desperate the situation was becoming.

Once they had all passed, the three of them spurred up their horses to follow.

With his heart pounding in his chest Levi gripped the reins of his mount. If he and Hanji and Mike could stick together then they had a chance of taking out enough titans to get them safely to the trees. The abnormals and faster ones would take some careful action to kill, but the other titans were slow and wouldn't pose as much of a threat.

"That running abnormal is getting close!" Mike shouted. "I've got it. Levi, you cover me!"

The two slowed their horses slightly to let the titan catch up. Once it had, Mike leaped into the air. He grappled onto the titan's arm to swing himself around to its back. Once there he quickly hooked onto its nape and with one blow it was down, its heavy landing causing the ground to tremble.

Levi, who had grabbed Mike's horse, rode over. Mike jumped on and they were off again. They quickly caught up to Hanji and resumed their charge to the forest. Before long though, another two titans appeared on their tails.

"I'll take the closer 10 meter one and you two take the other." Levi said.

"Got it!" Hanji responded.

Once more he decreased his speed to let the titan get close enough. When it was, Levi suddenly sped up and then abruptly turned his horse around. He launched himself off of it and right at the titan but at the last moment before he hit it he dove between its legs. He then hooked onto its back and swung onto its nape and killed it. Before it hit the ground he leaped off and landed lightly beside it.

As Levi landed he felt the ground beneath him rumble. He looked back only to find two more abnormal titans heading his way. They were both at least 15 meters tall, but he hadn't noticed them before now. They must have come from a different direction then the rest of massive horde had.

Levi quickly formulated a plan in his head for how to take them out. He would wait for them to get close and then dive around behind them before they could react. It would be easy from there.

He took a stand and flashed his twin blades at them as the got closer and closer. Right as they came up to him he dove to the left and rapidly stood to prepare himself for his next move, but surprisingly there were no titans. For a split second he stood there in confusion. The titans had continued past him, but then he figured out why.

"Damn it!" he swore. They weren't interested in one human when there were dozens of humans up ahead. He needed his horse fast. Thankfully the Scouting Legion horses were trained for exactly this kind of situation because his horse was only a few meters away.

As he spurred his horse back in to a run Levi cursed at himself. The only job that Erwin had given him was to keep the titans away from the rest of the Scouts and he was failing at that pretty badly. Already, he could see as he rode closer, the two titans were upon some of the stragglers in the back of the group. He pushed his horse as fast as it could go.

Too late! One of the stragglers was gone. Eaten. His companions were screaming and angrily attempting to avenge his death by slashing their blades behind them at the titans. Fortunately, Levi was now close enough to intervene. He latched onto the closest one and tore through it. He let the momentum from the first kill launch him at the next titan which was running alongside them. He landed on its face and sunk his swords into its eyes. The titan, now angered, began moving about in a blind frenzy waving its arms around but thankfully it slowed down enough that the Scouts were able to get away.

Levi flung himself from the titan right before its massive hand swiped the air he had just been occupying. He landed firmly and looked back to see where Hanji and Mike were. They seemed to be holding their own and had engaged several more titans. This didn't concern Levi as much as the fact that the main horde of titans appeared to be speeding up as the Scouts got closer to the trees. It was as if they knew that as soon as the Scouts got there it was over for them.

BOOM!

Behind him, the frenzied titan had fallen to its knees gripping its painful face injury. It didn't deserve to be put out of its misery, but Levi couldn't have it healing and running off.

He turned to reload his swords to prepare to kill it but was suddenly and abruptly thrown sideways by the force of something crashing into the ground beside him. He flew forward and landed roughly on his stomach but quickly rolled over and turned his head to see what the cause of the force was.

And then he wished he hadn't because what he saw was a crawler titan.

Crawlers were a particularly difficult type of titan. They were almost impossible to kill outside the walls unless there was a way to use the 3DMG. To kill a crawler you usually had to come from above it and kill it fast. If a crawler was coming after you and you didn't have some way to get above it you may as well say your last and final prayer, which is what Levi was currently considering doing.

But then an idea struck him.

Standing up Levi broke into as fast of a run as he could over to the kneeling, previously frenzied, titan. He could sense that the crawler had gotten up and was getting ready to pounce on him again, so he ran faster. The adrenaline coursing through him had his heart rate going crazy. He didn't know if he was running more out of fear or motivation to kill the crawler.

Behind him he senses more than heard the crawler jump but at the last second before it would have landed on him he grappled onto the kneeling titan and let his momentum from running swing him towards it. He could feel the sudden heat of the crawler as its jaws snapped shut behind him telling him that he had narrowly missed it crashing into him again. That didn't exactly help calm nerves.

As he swung towards the other titan he saw that there were more titans approaching his position. How many were there?! He had better hurry with this crawler.

Levi grappled onto the titan again and let his momentum build and swing him around it. He was going fast enough that the cold air was ripping through his scarf and biting at his face. He kept going around and around until he gathered his strength, grappled one more time and flung himself upward.

Now he was really flying. His upward momentum carried him far before it slowly stopped and changed into a sickening plummet back towards the waiting crawler. He would need to grapple onto the back of it to kill it and in case he missed and it tried to throw him off. The impact was going to hurt like he** but it would be better than becoming titan chow.

Falling fast Levi reloaded his swords and aimed his gear at the titan's nape. He was close enough now to grapple onto it. He fired his hook but to his horror nothing happened except;

*CLICK*

No! Of all the times for a malfunction! He tried again with the air rushing past him.

*CLICK* *CLICK*

The 3DMG cable wouldn't come out. It was jammed!

He was falling too fast. If his gear didn't start working he was done for. The impact of the fall, if it didn't kill him, would surely break some bones and then he would be helpless against the titans. Or worse, assuming the fall didn't kill him, someone would see him helpless and try to save him which would only cause more death. He couldn't let that happen.

Levi kept trying. His gear wouldn't do anything. He was too close to the ground. This couldn't be happening! There were more titans coming and he didn't know how his friends were holding up and he was now only seconds from death. These were the thoughts going through his head when-SMASH! Something huge and hot smacked him away from the crawler. Another titan must have hit him on his way down. He barely had time to think that before-THUD! His head and back erupted into intense spikes of pain. Something had abruptly stopped his momentum and he dropped onto the icy ground.

Levi's vision became foggy as he lay there fighting to stay conscious against the throbbing. He thought he heard someone scream his name and he may have seen one or two titans fall, but his brain was being overwhelmed with fiery tendrils of pain shooting up from his spine and he couldn't be sure.

The last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was a titan walking his way.

end ch 2

**Well...****unfortunately I don't quite have the next chapter written yet...**

**So y'all get to wait in suspense!**

**Cheers!**

**-ChucK **


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